Investing isn’t poker or rather it should not be a gambling game. If you go all in with investing in an asset or two, you are almost certain to lose everything, it is just a law of probabilities. Diversify. Do not believe anyone who tells you otherwise, ever. Of course this new generation’s first instinct is to go all in and then when a correction or crash sets in, they lose everything. They then go away and never come back. It’s a never-ending cycle.
Hey Will. Thanks for the helpful guide! I’ve just gotten into crypto and found this info extremely useful. Just a question regarding how you keep your alt coins safe. As far as I can tell, you can’t keep many of these alt coins on a Trezor hard wallet, so do you just use something like My Ether Wallet instead? Cheers mate! Here’s to a cracking 2018!!
If your focus is to conduct crypto-to-crypto trading, Binance is one of the best options. Ranked as one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide, they provide you with impressive offerings along with an extremely low trading fee. Although the Binance platform is a young entrant into the market, it is rapidly growing, and holds a huge selection of altcoins with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether pairings.
On top of that, the cryptocurrency market travels at lightspeed compared to other markets. New coins enter the market on a daily basis (in 2016, there were about 550 different coins, today there are about 1,500), and each one has news every day. I’m not doubting your ability to consume and analyze news, but that level of information bombardment will always be more effectively consumed as a group. In these communities, you’ll see members link news and relevant articles about coins you’ve invested in and coins you’ve never heard of. The community will definitely expand your knowledge much faster than doing it all yourself.
On top of that, the cryptocurrency market travels at lightspeed compared to other markets. New coins enter the market on a daily basis (in 2016, there were about 550 different coins, today there are about 1,500), and each one has news every day. I’m not doubting your ability to consume and analyze news, but that level of information bombardment will always be more effectively consumed as a group. In these communities, you’ll see members link news and relevant articles about coins you’ve invested in and coins you’ve never heard of. The community will definitely expand your knowledge much faster than doing it all yourself.

Howling, expounding, hyping, none of this makes a difference to a market of any size. Markets are gigantic stochastic processes and it takes truly historic events to change or make the trends. If someone loses money investing there is no person to blame and that harsh reality needs to be embraced by anyone wishing to make money in the long term. Personifying the market warps the investor’s ability to understand the mechanism of buyers matching sellers and prices being made. “He said this, she said that” might make for tabloid journalism but it doesn’t make trends.

Up until now however, these types of funds haven’t been available to cryptocurrency investors. Due to taxes, legal compliance, impracticality, fear, and other reasons, most investment and hedge funds have limited or no exposure to the big profits that can be found in the cryptocurrency market. Investors have had to manage their blockchain assets manually. But that’s all about to change.
Ultimately, if you want to make money with crypto you have a couple of options. The easiest thing to do is to build a diversified portfolio of carefully selected coins and then to simply wait a couple of years. However, this is not the most effective way to make mad money. If you want to truly crush it at crypto, you need access to truly knowledgable people.

A “manageable amount” is obviously subjective and will vary for each person based on things such as time available to dedicate to trading. Feel free to do your own research to find the right exchange for you. I tend to value user experience of an exchange over the amount of coins on it. Ultimately, what exchanges you use is going to depend on your own personal preferences. GDAX and Poloniex will provide sufficient resources needed to be a successful trader, so they are definitely a good place to start.

This learning program will make you completely self-sufficient. There will be no need for you to pay for another course or to subscribe to different trading groups and live trade rooms. There is a ton of groups and individuals out there who are selling or giving away trade signals on their sites, Twitter, forums, etc. All these signals and tips can be useless or even very harmful, if you don't know how to do your own research. For instance, a fresh tweet saying it's time to buy a certain altcoin might not only be old news. There's also a chance it was written because the author wants to actually dump the coin, and he needs people to buy and raise its value at the same time he is selling it.
For myself, and most crypto traders, the goal is to increase the amount of Bitcoin we own. I don’t care about the US dollar, at least not directly. When I look at the price of a cryptocurrency, I look at it in terms of BTC. For example, right now the price of 1 ETH (Ethereum) is 0.049 BTC. My trades are based on that price, not the fact that 1 ETH is $304.
Investing in any currency is an activity that, roughly speaking, can be done in two ways: the speculative, by means of short sales (buying and selling currencies several times in one day depending on the possibilities of the price going up or down), Or by developing a medium- or long-term investment scheme (i.e buying currencies and saving them for a longer period to sell them when appropriate).
Bitbuy.ca is a Canadian owned and operated digital currency platform. Originally founded as InstaBT in 2013, the company’s mission is to provide convenient, dependable and secure access to Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Customer service, ease of use, and quick turnaround times for deposits and withdrawals are pillars of this platform. They cater to beginners as well as experienced traders, and are one of Canada’s quickest growing buy/sell platforms. A great choice for users looking to buy and hold crypto, or users looking for a reliable on-ramp to turn their fiat into crypto quickly and easily.

I prefer to trade on decentralized exchanges. For myself, I made a choice in the form of ethnermium.сom. They have a huge number of coins. There are no minimum restrictions on trade and fees are so insignificant that you will not notice them. I also think the advantage of the easy creation of a wallet like MeW and easy integration with metamasks and a high level of security

Ethereum hit the scene with the promise of using the blockchain for more than just currencies. You could build decentralized apps on top of Ethereum and even new currencies. In the summer of 2016 I decided to buy ETH at around $9. The day after I purchased Ethereum something called the DAO hack happened and the price dropped 50%. Unlike in 2011, I didn’t need the money I invested to cover any bills. I watched my Ethereum swing between $4 and $20 for about 8 months. I wondered if I could take advantage of those swings by buying when the price was low, selling when it was high, and buying back in when the price dipped again. Though I didn’t take any action on the thought, the idea lingered in my head.

Verification criterion- Since cryptocurrencies aren’t government regulated, trading on exchanges is posed to hacks and misuse of identities. Therefore, all the reliable exchanges will ask you for the verification of your personal identity in one or the other forms to make deposits and withdrawals. To remain on the safer side and avoid money laundering and frauds, you must opt for the step of identity verification while registering on an exchange.

They’re committed to safe and secure trades, because at the end of the day, you’re trusting your money with them. They understand that, and they take that very seriously. Their system is 100% proprietary, has been stress tested and DDoS tested, and they have never lost a single coin. They also maintain a ledger themselves in the interest of ensuring that they know where every coin – whether Canadian or ethereum – is at all times.

The above references an opinion and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as and does not constitute investment advice, and is not an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any cryptocurrency, security, product, service or investment. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice. The information provided here or in any communication containing a link to this site is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject SFOX, Inc. or its affiliates to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Neither the information, nor any opinion contained in this site constitutes a solicitation or offer by SFOX, Inc. or its affiliates to buy or sell any cryptocurrencies, securities, futures, options or other financial instruments or provide any investment advice or service.

Disclaimer: Trading carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. Before deciding to invest you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading, and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any doubts.
You should have a general understanding of what a cryptocurrency is because knowing the functional use of a coin can give you an edge when deciding your investments. There are hundreds of coins ranging from major players like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), to smaller coins that we refer to as “altcoins.” Each coin is unique and offers their own flunctional use cases. If you’re feeling unclear about what a cryptocurrency is, check out some of the resources below. They give great explanations of Bitcoin and Ethereum, and blockchain, the underlying technology of which cryptocurrencies are built upon.
Mean reversion is where the investor assumes that the price of a coin will remain at an average price level over time. Upward trends, and downwards trends, are expected to revert back to the average over the long haul. This means you need to know the charts well and be able to figure out what the average price for the cryptocurrency you intend to trade in. When the coins are less than the estimated average that is when one wants to make a few purchases. When the price is higher than the average it is expected to drop back down to the mean price and that would be the time to sell. Of course, figuring out just when to sell is the trick, and that is where the gamble comes in.
As well as buying crypto using fiat currency, a centralized exchange is somewhere you can store funds and exchange the likes of Bitcoin for other coins and tokens. Examples include Coinbase, Kraken and Binance. Although there is less risk that your funds will disappear if you forget a password or your private key, it’s important to go with reputable providers who have high security standards. That’s because there have been cases where millions of dollars have disappeared from these exchanges overnight through hacking.
When you buy/sell via an exchange, try to use limit orders (try not to use market orders). On some exchanges, like GDAX, limit orders have lower fees than market orders. On GDAX, limit orders are free as long as they don’t fill immediately. Meanwhile, market orders result in a .3% fee, which is better than the 1.4% that Coinbase charges but not as good as 0%, especially if you are day trading. If your exchange rewards you for using certain order types, aim to use them.
There is also an Ethereum-based ETF pending regulatory review, and many such products are likely to follow. For now, there are just a few options available. For example, ticker symbol GBTC is one such security listed on the US-based OTC Markets Exchange, and is available at major online brokerages such as Fidelity, providing stock market investors a way to gain exposure to Bitcoin without buying the underlying or using a derivative.
Now, of course, you will want to do your due diligence and make sure that you know what the market conditions are first, and what the previous price levels have been when trying to predict the appropriate time to get out. Knowing when to get out is the most important thing about this type of strategy. So, apparently, timing is everything here, and the more you know the better off you will be when judging for the appropriate times to buy or sell so that you have the greatest opportunity for the biggest profit.
Bitcoin trading occurs on exchanges. These exchanges accept your fiat currencies (like USD and EUR) in exchange for a cryptocurrency (like BTC). These exchanges maintain a liquid pool of bitcoin, allowing users to withdraw their bitcoin at any time. Investors who wish to trade on that exchange can deposit bitcoin into their personal wallet on the exchange, or make a wire transfer to the exchange’s bank account. The exchange notices this transfer, then credits your account.
The day I first heard about Bitcoin on Reddit, a friend had also called me to tell me about it. We spent most of our friendship talking about Ayn Rand and programming, so when we heard about a currency that was software and couldn’t be controlled by governments we were very interested. I purchased $600 worth of BTC and my friend and I planned on buying a mining rig.
The exchange offers its own coin termed as BNB (Binance coin). Being a centralised exchange, you can get decent discounts while conducting trade in their own tokens i.e. BNB. Before investing through any exchange, your major concern might be the fee structure. Thanks to Binance, as it offers a standard trading fee of only 0.1% which can further be reduced if the payment is conducted in BNB. Moreover, you can register and operate on both web and mobile (Android and iOS) interfaces which are very simple and user-friendly.
As I mentioned before, the Binance exchange fees are really very reasonable and Binance charges just 0.1% on the value of a trade which is less than many of the other popular cryptocurrency trading exchange platforms. It’s free to deposit coins into Binance and you can even cut the trading fees in half if you pay with Binance’s very own coin – The Binance coin. This is probably only worth doing if you are trading tens of thousands of dollars worth of crypto at a time.

As was mentioned above, there are two ways to examine investment in Altcoins – vs Bitcoin and vs the US dollar. This is a common mistake amongst those who missed the Bitcoin train, and are looking to cash in on the other altcoins. Those investors have to examine the investment dollar-wise, since they exchange US dollars or out FIAT in order to buy crypto (instead of buying with the Bitcoins they already have).

Learn to value coins in BTC. Ether aside, Bitcoin is the current primary currency of the crypto economy (i.e., its what you have to use to buy most altcoins). Those new to crypto tend to value things in dollars. Meanwhile, even seasoned cash traders value coins in dollars. However, enough crypto traders will value coins in BTC for it to matter. If you aren’t aware of the BTC charts, you won’t be able to properly understand the trends everyone else is analyzing and reacting to. You don’t have to make getting more BTC your goal, but you must have the BTC prices of altcoins on your radar. There are times when all coins move up, but altcoins steadily lose value against Bitcoin. Those who know will be the first to dump altcoins for Bitcoin; this will set off a vicious cycle that can result in the stagnation of altcoin prices.
Use small buy-ins, and don’t margin trade or short unless you know your stuff. The smaller your bet is compared to your total investable funds, the less risk you are taking on every bet (one of many insanely important things we are covering here). Putting it all on black is tempting, but then if it comes up red, you have nothing left to invest. Live to fight another day by learning to manage your buy-in size. As a rule of thumb invest 1% or less per buy-in (yes, that small, really; losing 100% of 1% leaves you with 99%, losing 1% of 100% leaves you with 99%. Small bids offer the same bet, but with way less risk). Put reward aside and practice risk management and capital preservation until you are very experienced (and thus, by logical extension: don’t margin trade or short unless you know what you are doing, as those leveraged bets magnify your risk by their very nature). See Kelly criterion.

I wrote the following simple guide to investing in Bitcoin and Crypto Assets back in Jan '17. After publishing version 3 of my strategy I felt a need to review and update it to reflect any changes in my approach, but upon review, I found very little needed changing. If you are new to Crypto, take your time to read this and the strategy, if you have any questions then feel free to get in touch, and I will do my best to get back to you.

Don’t be greedy. No one ever lost money taking a profit. As a coin begins to grow, the greed inside us grows along with it. If a coin increases by 30%, why not consider taking profit? Even if goals are set to 40% or 50%, you should at least pull out some of the profit on the way up in case a coin doesn’t reach the goal. If you wait too long or try to get out at a higher point, you risk losing profit you already earned or even turning that profit into a loss. Get into the habit of taking profits and scouting for re-entry if you want to continue reaping potential profits.